Injury sidelines Fajardo indefinitely
SAN Miguel Beer’s six-peat Philippine Cup campaign in Season 45 Philippine Basketball Association is now in jeopardy after the Beermen’s five- time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo suffered an incapacitating leg injury.
San Miguel Beer (SMB) said in a statement that the 6’10 center sustained a complete fracture on his right tibia during a team practice on February 3. Fajardo underwent surgery on Tuesday.
“During this rehabilitation phase, the team regrets he won’t be able to play for the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Cup,” SMB’s statement reads. “June Mar, for his part, is also saddened that he may not be able to join any upcoming international competition.”
“He underwent successful surgery last February 4 and will be scheduled to go through post-operation rehabilitation to allow him to recover at the soonest possible time. The San Miguel Beermen management is committed to ensuring that June Mar gets the best medical care, and would like to thank fans for the messages of concern and well wishes,” the statement said.
Beermen coach Leo Austria said losing Fajardo to injury is a big blow to their campaign.
“Definitely, we’ll be having a big adjustment because we know when we started winning championship, we are talking winning championship with June Mar. It’s very hard to play without him but nobody will help us except ourselves so we have to find ways,” Austria said.
Austria expects Mo Tautuaa to step up in the absence of Fajardo. The Beermen also have veteran Billy Mamaril and Russel Escoto to man the shaded area.
But it would be hard to equal Fajardo’s feat. The gentle giant has registered an average of 18.89 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.5 blocks last season.